Antei Rukei
Antei Rukei, better known as Rook, is a mercenary nominally employed among the ranks of Sasaki Kohaku's mercenary company, Moon Tree. In actuality, Rook is more closely affiliated with an anonymous creator of golems whose identity not even Rook knows. The name Rook was even given to him by Agarthan contacts who struggled to pronounce his Nazcan name -- all contacts that Rook met through the individual known only euphemistically as the Grave Thief Golemcrafter. This golemcrafter was responsible both for Rook's rise to relevancy within the mercenary profession and Rook's acquisition of a unique Nazcan blade called Tapasaphei, which has become something close to his own symbol for those that know of him. Although Rook is far from being the most famous or even skilled mercenary, he has had no shortage of work due to the golemcrafter's connections and Rook's own reputation of never haggling for his services and always following commands to the letter. Rook was "gifted" to Sasaki in recognition of Moon Tree's successes in Nazca -- a Nazcan seraph making for quite the relevant gift -- and to establish a business relationship with the growing mercenary company. It's fully possible that the golemcrafter may someday call him back to Agartha to continue their dealings there, or they might even regard Rook's service in Moon Tree as indebting Sasaki to the golemcrafter in some way, but for now, Rook's contract lies with Moon Tree, and he appears to be as committed as can be to his new life. Knowledge Checks Knowledge: Local DC 10 Rook already has a bit of a reputation in some parts of Agartha as a meticulous mercenary. He seems disinclined to operate at all differently from how he normally does in Moon Tree, following commands very strictly, never arguing about established prices for his services, and keeping to himself unless spoken to. His voice is distinctively quiet and raspy, which may be part of why he says little except to acknowledge a received order with a curt, "I hear you." DC 15 It is infrequent to the point of near-nonexistence for Rook to display much opinion on what is going on around him. He wants for little; his conditions for employment in Moon Tree simply were having clear orders, consistent work, and his own lodging away from other people. It is evident that he craves nothing but being able to follow his own routine; he wakes and goes to sleep around the same times each day and night, and he eats meals at very particular intervals, evenly spaced apart. Though he may tolerate disruptions to this routine, especially if ordered to do something specific, it appears to make him a bit more tense, and he quickly accomplishes whatever he was told to do to return to his normal routine. Consistency and stability seem to be all that Rook desires. Any money he has goes towards maintaining both of these things. DC 20 Rook's particular skillset indicates a lengthy, but varied history as a mercenary. He is knowledgable about a variety of subjects, ranging from expert knowledge on arcane and divine magic to dabbling a bit in medicine and naturalism. At the same time, he is very adept at following even tampered tracks and moving through areas unseen and unheard. If Rook knows how to do it, he does so very naturally and confidently, seemingly aware of his exact limits or what consistently works for a variety of situations; he appears to be less adept with social matters especially, having no routine or proven method he can rely upon. As such, it is little wonder that he mostly stays quiet unless he is specifically addressed. While he is most known for his bladework, Rook can also commonly be seen making maps or transcribing conversations and notes with a practiced hand. His handwriting is neat and meticulous, and he is known to be fluent in several languages, probably those of clientele he once had to communicate directly with. Knowledge: Nature DC 15 Seraphs such as Rook are commonly associated with being lithe, but frail of body. Rook is certainly agile, yet he also seems significantly less prone to injury or illness than his kin in ways that couldn't have simply been the result of training. It's possible that he isn't a typical seraph, or he might come from a mixed heritage resulting in someone who looks to be a seraph, but has the fortitude associated with another nationality or race. Knowledge: History DC 15 Rook's blade, Tapasaphei, is clearly of ancient Nazcan make. The sword is made of sunsilver, a rare material known to originate in Nazca, and its name translates roughly to Quivering Mirage's Edge. It is known to never rust or lose its keen edge, though Rook still takes care of it as if it were a common blade and can often be seen tending to it with whetstones and oils. Considering how remarkable Tapasaphei is, it's unlikely that Rook paid for it himself; not even decades of life as a mercenary and sparing all other expenses could afford something like this Nazcan mirage blade. It would follow that perhaps he stole it from a Nazcan tomb or treasure collector himself, but that seems rather out-of-character for someone who only does as he's ordered -- if he was ordered to steal the sword, the sword would have gone to someone who wanted the artifact for themselves. It's most likely that Rook was given Tapasephei, perhaps by his employer or in payment for a particular job. DC 20 Tapasaphei is not only keen-edged and difficult to parry for its mirage-like properties; the sword itself is said to bear curses of bygone Nazcan royalty who sought to protect their treasures from tomb robbers. Such curses allegedly inflict endless misfortune upon those who lack the right to wield the sword, or they impede their movement such that they easily become victims of other traps in the tombs. If these stories are true, they seem to not dissuade Rook at all, and he outwardly does not appear to be cursed at all. On the contrary, he seems to use the sword as a focus for inflicting such curses upon his enemies. The stories about Tapasaphei may have been exaggerated or entirely contrived... or perhaps, when Rook obtained the sword, it was modified in some way to allow anyone to wield it without fear of being cursed. Knowledge: Fortifications DC 10 Rook has a distinctive fighting style that predominately revolves around an art called dueling in Common, or iaijutsu in its country of origin, Shinuyama. He keeps his weapon sheathed, only taking it from its scabbard to unleash a single, often deadly strike. After the blow is made, he withdraws and sheathes the sword once again. The result of this is that Rook has a fairly unpredictable, unorthodox fighting style and can be difficult to counter. Even with his weapon sheathed, he seems to have no problems with attacking fleeing foes or anyone that lowers their guard when near him; in effect, if the weapon is not in his hands, it can be in the blink of an eye, and that is all the time he needs. DC 15 Rook's usage of a sword like Tapasaphei is unusual for traditional dueling. Though Tapasaphei is light in weight, comparable to shorter blades wielded in one hand, it is most effectively held with both hands due to its overall size. The sword's innate magic seems to lend itself to being maneuvered around the battlefield with ease, even in spite of the long blade. That said, Rook using the sword in this unusual manner indicates that he was not trained in dueling by a traditional instructor, if he even had one at all; a foreigner like him, especially without preexisting connections to Shinuyama, wouldn't have a chance to locate one of the more obscure masters of iaijutsu that use weapons other than traditional one-handed blades. He may use Shinuyama's methods of warfare, but wherever he learned them, it was not there. DC 20 Although Rook's method of fighting is unorthodox, it can be compared to existing martial disciplines. Naturally, his usage of dueling and silver-based weaponry compares him closely to the Style of the Mithral Current originating in Shinuyama. While he may not seem to know the specific basic strikes and foundational motions associated with the discipline, the way Rook moves around the battlefield, keeping his weapon sheathed until he needs it and evading enemy strikes like a flowing river, makes him comparable to other users of Mithral Current techniques. In particular, he mostly seems to counterattack like Mithral Current initiates; other than the basic act of unsheathing his weapon for a rapid, deadly strike and returning it to its sheathe, he seems to rely rather little on Mithral Current maneuvers. Rather, his strikes are empowered by old Nazcan curses and mage hunting, impairing enemy movement and strikes to weaken them enough to finish them off altogether easily; this discipline is called the Style of the Cursed Razor for the short blades traditionally used as focii for the curses. DC 25 The Styles of the Mithral Current and Cursed Razor alone do not account for Rook's full repertoire, however; he seems able to almost disappear from sight and reappear next to enemies, distinct from his rapid but visible movements when avoiding attacks. He most certainly does not rely on the Style of the Veiled Moon, lacking any of its ethereal motions in his bladework or connection to the world of the spirits. As such, his ability to move around the battlefield like a mirage must come from somewhere else -- perhaps from his strange sword, Tapasaphei, or from another rarer discipline known as harbingers. Such individuals are said to draw power from great tragedy or strong, negative emotions, neither of which Rook seems to employ. Instead, he is passively indifferent to virtually everything around him. If he is a harbinger, he's not a traditional one. Linguistics DC 15 Rook's full name, Antei Rukei, is a Nazcan commoner name, indicating both his heritage and former social class before he became a mercenary; he has a familial surname, Antei, rather than the title-surname of male nobility, Naca. Given his apparent decades of history in Agartha, he must have left home quite some time ago, or perhaps he is a descendant of Nazcan peasantry that eventually settled in Agartha. Characters fluent in Auran or familiar with Nazca's culture can consider this a DC 10 check. DC 20 The surname Antei means dune guard, a profession mostly limited to the peasantry in need of defending the outskirts of remote settlements that receive little support from Mallqui or other large cities in Nazca. Such a job is rarely considered glorious, the dune guards themselves sometimes believed to be cowardly or otherwise weak-willed for their typical role in merely flying back and alerting the true guard force of the incoming danger, rather than actually engaging the enemy themselves. For Rook to have this surname, his family likely has a prominent dune guard heritage, or he may have been a dune guard himself before leaving Nazca. Characters fluent in Auran or familiar with Nazca's culture can consider this a DC 15 check. DC 25 Rook's personal name, Rukei, is altogether rare and difficult to piece the meaning of. Though the suffix ''-ei'' isn't particularly uncommon, as it typically refers to guardians, warriors, or other exemplars of physical and military might, the prefix Ruk is much more obscure. It likely originates from an archaic Nazcan word for a particular type of desert flower now extinct, rukli. ''This would gives Rukei's name as meaning something akin to ''desert flower guardian, perhaps intended to mean something like protector of beauty. Characters fluent in Auran or familiar with Nazca's culture can consider this a DC 20 check. Category:Latus Category:Player Characters